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The White Curtain Falls
Allies "Can you just tell us who it is, dandelion head!?" Mary yelled at Jason as the group continued to run downstairs. "I hate being left in the dark!" "It's Wendy!" Jason called back as they ran. "And she's brought some gue-" He stopped dead for a moment, and everyone stopped as well to avoid a six person pile-up. The reason for this soon became clear, as the entire group was treated to the sight of nearly half of the building and outside landscape destroyed, leaving no need to reach the exit, the destruction had caused that for them. "So this was what I felt..." Jason looked around for signs of corpses. "And yet Iris and Len aren't here...." He gritted his teeth. "Is she alright?" Iris, being Iris, would certainly be fine. She was made of diamond, after all. She could survive being in the epicenter of an explosion and walk it off. There was absolutely nothing that could harm her completely now. Rea looked around, staring straight at the six people who were approaching quickly. In any case, it seemed that it would be completely honest to say that Akatsuki were a walking disaster area. "...Wait, these people are new." "Not quite, only a few." Jason noted. "This is what I was talking about, here comes We-" He never did get to complete that sentence, as Wendy cut ahead of the oncoming group, quickly smacking him in the face. This stunned both Jason, his group, and Wendy's group, leaving everyone dead silent for a moment. "Hello sweetie." She said, smiling. "That is for leaving me with this lot instead of taking me along with you!" "I told you she was mad..." Makoto whispered to Chelia. Jason rubbed his face for a moment, blinking. "Sorry about that, Wendy. I was in a bit of a hurry when I was assigning teams, alright?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She huffed. "You owe me for this." Giselle was just standing there, watching, waiting in anticipation to see if a fight would break out. Giselle Mercury was just the type of person to laugh at the expense of others. "...Three, two one. Place your bets people, let's see who'll get their teeth kicked in." Of course, she wanted to leave as soon as possible to escape them. "Anyway, so, we just found two stragglers." Wendy jerked her head at Giselle and Tsuruko. "Giselle and Tsuruko. Tsuruko's alright, Giselle, not so much, and...wait..." Wendy's eyes drifted over to the body in Alaskiel's arms. "Is that....Gaikou?" "Took ya long enough." Alaskiel's quiet voice replied. Giselle dusted her clothes off. "You people bore me. Anyway, here's your Tsuruko, I'm gonna vamoose here-" Tsuruko grabbed Giselle by her labcoat like a child. "Stay!" "No, I left you here, you stay. These people are idiots." Tsuruko's eyes widened like a puppy's. "Please?" "She seems to want you to stay, so why don't you?" Jason inquired. "It's not like it'll be an inconvenience...Giselle, right?" Whatever anyone could say about Jason, 'rude' was at least not on the list. Tyrone gritted his teeth to the point where they chipped. "Enough of this pointless banter! She died? That means you failed, right Jason? You failed??" Jason sighed. Tyrone's attitude wasn't something he really wanted to put up with at the moment. "Yes, we failed. There's nothing we can do about it now." Giselle immediately brushed past Jason, clearly not caring about the man at all ."Yeah, hi to you too." Her focus was on Gaikou. "She kicked the bucket?" "Yeah." Rea nodded meekly. "Ah ,well, lemme just take her back to my lab and turn her into a cyborg! There, good as new." "I don't think that's a good idea, neither a morally right idea." Chelia sighed. Once again, she was dealing with a mad scientist. "Shouldn't we just let her sleep for a long time, to honour her death?" "Of course." Jason nodded curtly. "In fact, we're going to be heading back soon, and back at the Guild, we will have a funeral for Gaikou. There is no way we are burying her anywhere than outside of our Guild." Wendy smiled a bit. Mad at Jason though she may be, she wasn't blind to the fact that insisting Gaikou be buried outside the guild and tat they have a funeral procession for her was his own good-bye. "I'm quite sure an abrupt subject change is distasteful but..." His eyes turned to Giselle and Tsuruko. "While we may have been given your names...what are either of you doing with my Guild here?" His voice, while sharp, expressed his confusion, and he turned to Erza. "In fact...I believe I had sent you off on a different mission entirely; did you get sidetracked?" Erza sheepishly chuckled momentarily. "Well, you see-" Giselle cut her off. "You went to find SOMETHING in that forest, turned out you slipped into Bevelle via a time warp. Well, let's just say that you got up shit creek without a paddle now." Erza seemed stunned. "Wait, I thought all it did was release you." Giselle began to explain, "Thirty years ago, I sealed something else inside that coffin after the original Tsuruko kicked it's ass up and down the block. And now that I'm unsealed, so is it." Jason's eye twitched, and he glared at Erza. "Erza...you and I are going to have a talk about how following orders properly works best for everyone in the end after all of this is done." He sighed. "Giselle, I hate to impose, but after what you just said, would you consider returning to our Guild with us? I can't simply ignore a statement like that, I have to know more, but..." He gestured to the corpse. "Gaikou is the more pressing matter." Giselle sighed. "Guess there's not much I can do about it, really. Look, I don't even want to get within three kilometers of you guys, But if that THING is on the lose we don't have much choice. Let's go start up a funeral first, however." "The only remaining question..." Jason frowned. "Is Iris alright?" He thought for a moment, and knew she wasn't the type to die. "Well...it's worth a shot." He pulled a small bell out of his kosode, and rang it, the sharp chime resounding throughout the area. "I'mcomingimcomingimcomingimcomingimcomingimcoming!" Iris Lavra was...energetic as usual. There was absolutely nothing that could put her down, even for a moment. She came running, straight into Jason's arms...only to crash into Giselle instead. "Oof! Stupid mutt..." Giselle scratched her head, as she looked plainly at Iris. "Oh, it's you, number 2411. What a surprise." Iris tilted her head in surprise. "Ehh!? Issit you? You're the one who made my race, right!?" Giselle sighed as she stood up, helping Iris. "I do a lot of things. Don't expect me to remember them all. Anyway, 2411. I'm glad to see you got out of there safely." She lightly pulled Iris in for a hug. "It's good that you seem to be happy here." Jason was very surprised to see how this woman was treating Iris; it was almost like she considered her a daughter. That action in itself cemented Jason's view that this woman would be an alright person. "Iris, where have you been?" Jason inquired, looking at her with concern. "This entire area is destroyed, and yet you look like you're not any worse for where. What happened?" Iris' ears perked up like a...rabbit's. "Len and I got into a big fight and then I supposedly turned him into a shooting star and then I blacked out and then I saw baboon-face and then he gave me magic rings and then he said Viv is his daughter and then-" She had run out of breath. Despite once again wondering just what animal this girl was, Jason was more focused on trying to understand what she was saying. "Iris, you're going too fast. I barely caught the last part of that." He sighed. "E is Vivian's father..." This was less shocking than it should have been, for Jason at least. However, Wendy was looking at Iris, agape. "That...thing is Vivian's father?" She asked incredulously. "B-b-but..." She was at a complete loss for words. "They always did have similar signatures in their magic." Jason explained to Wendy, trying to snap her out of whatever shock she had just fallen into. "Faint differences but it was there." Giselle summarized, "They both have a similar smell. Naturally, ass-face smells worse. But to be fair, Secret Duplicate 02 and 01 were created from his scales- they're the finalized versions of the Human-God Project." "Duplicate 02 and 01?" Mary's voice was like ice as she turned on this woman. "You wouldn't happen to be branding Onē-chan as a numeric experiment, would you...?" Giselle threw her hands up momentarily, snarking. "Look, lady. I don't remember names well. All I remember is like nine names; these people are very important to me. It's just a habit I've developed, get the hell over it." "Why you fu-!" Mary snapped, and her hand flew towards her sword, only to feel Jason's hand grasp her wrist. Her head swiveled in his direction, and she looked like a woman gone insane as she snarled at him. "Jason, let go!" Her voice was raspy now, she was quickly losing her sanity. "No." Jason replied simply. "We all seem to be forgetting that getting Gaikou a proper funeral is the most pressing matter right now. Besides..." He cast a wary look at Giselle. "Are you totally blind to this woman's strength? She'd shatter any one of us with ease. You'd be charging into your death far too early." Giselle laughed. "Ahaha, frickin' weeb. I could shatter you all with a single flick of my wrist. Now, your mammaries, you must calm them. Now let's just get the damn funeral done. Want me to call a friend to get the services right?" "Of course." Jason sounded immensely grateful at this; Guild Master or not, to conduct the services of a funeral, that was one enemy he wouldn't be taking on any time soon. He waved his hand, and created a whirling portal. "This will take us back to the Guild Haven. You can contact him from here." Giselle snarked, "Oh, my. Kinda sad how the world was grey-gooed after I had a little nap." She withdrew a spherical device from her pocket. "Behold! This is Magitech. It's an amazing device...." "What's it do~" Iris chimed in. Giselle replied proudly, "It allows me to fight with strangers and look at pictures of felines. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be using my own methods to get to your crappy little pocket dimension." With a press of a button, she grabbed Tsuruko's hand and just whisked the two away. Iris seemed amazed at how...cold she was. "Not like I remember her vaguely...at all..." Naturally Giselle had stepped into maximum overbitch and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Chelia rubbed her head. "Agh, let's just get going." Jason sighed as the group stepped into the confines of the dimensional portal. The transfer was quick and clean, and the group arrived within the guild a second before Giselle and Tsuruko warped in. Makoto collapsed onto the floor, groaning. "I know I only just joined but....it's good to be back in here." Giselle made a dismissive motion as she and Tsuruko landed. "This place reeks of death. You guys should set up like a dimension-wide air freshener powered by Lacrima or something." "Or you're just complaining too much." Tyrone groaned as he sauntered off. The grumblings of "damn bitch" could be heard as he disappeared. Jason sighed in exasperation. "What am I going to do with all of these people?" "How do we break this to everyone else?" Olivia asked, looking a bit worried. "I don't think anyone expected us to fail..." Giselle just put her foot down. "Life sucks. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed. Get a hat and stop complaining. But just tell them "We failed". Simple as that. You shouldn't have to sugarcoat that shit. Just say it and get on with the damn funeral plans." Jason looked at this woman with a look of surprise not often seen on his face. "You...you don't mince words, do you?" Giselle didn't even acknowledge him. "You got that right, orange. Now! What were you thinking about the funeral? Just keep it quiet or something? Put on a big show? Anythin' like that?" "She wants a small ceremony." Alaskiel replied quickly. "Nothing large, or out of the way. Just a ceremony that sends her off, that's all." Giselle wobbled the orb in her hands. "Hold on, lemme call this bird-brain." She began to shout into the orb. "OI, FREDSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! CAN YOOOOOOOOOOOU HEAR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?" "Fweeeeeeeek! Do you even know who you're talking to!?" The sound of a squawking, orange parrot could be heard as a certain feather-butt tapped on the other side of the orb. Giselle offhandedly mentioned to the group, "Hold on, shit's about to get weird." Naturally there was nothing odder than what the hell else they've seen. "Weirder than it already is?" Makoto asked nervously. "I have a bad feeling about this...." Wendy groaned. This woman was already insane, what could be worse? Giselle snapped at them, "Kids, you've seen giant demon snakes, talking squirrel girls, people cloned from dragons, amnesiac spies, ass-faced messengers, and an older version of orange juice over there who looks like Santa Claus. This is, by far, the least craziest thing you'll ever see." "Fweeeeeeek! Who are these people?" Fredson was now clamoring for information. "Oh, these kids? They're the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked—" "...Can you not insult us while we're here?" Iris seemed serious for once. "Hold up, the damn wieners are talking." Giselle leaned in closer, as whispers were traded between the scientist and the parrot, before she hung up. "So! It's a small funeral. And trust me, I will be completely and utterly quiet during this." Jason sighed. "Alright. Thanks. I think it's time we all stopped stalling..." He looked grim, and his voice was even a bit weak. "We have to break this to the Guild..." Giselle twirled a lock of her silvery hair and sighed. "Just tell them, "we failed, let's try harder next time". It's that easy. They aren't kids. You shouldn't have to lie to them." It only took Jason a few minutes to gather the entirety of the guild, even the new members, such as his grandchildren, who looked very happy to see him back until they saw the joyless expressions on everyone's faces. Well, everyone except Giselle, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else, and Tsuruko, who seemed like she was uncomfortable around everyone. The air now had a very gloomy weight to it. Jason had not yet said a word to anyone, however, they were beginning to catch on, seeing the body in Alaskiel's arms. Even the bar patrons had nothing to say right now. "Everyone..." Jason avoided looking them in the eye, and his voice was morose. "I...I really do not know how to say this..." This was the first time Jason had been at a loss for words since he was a child. It appeared the impact of Gaikou's death was now hitting the man full force. He'd lost someone close to him to an enemy. Again. Iris silently pushed him away, before taking a bow and finishing his sentance. "Gaikou Ryuusei had died in our mission to retrieve her." She didn't add anything else onto that; ending it there and walking off- her eyes, obviously full of sorrow, blinded by her hair. The reaction was as expected. If the atmosphere was heavy before, the moment Iris had said the words "Gaikou Ryuusei had died", the entire guild fell deathly silent, all motion stopped. Molly, who had been polishing a glass behind the counter, simply stood there, repeatedly wiping the glass with the same cloth, which was only spreading dirt around. No one, however, stopped her, they were all motionless. "Gaikou is....dead?" Ono finally broke the silence, and her voice was rather raspy, as if it was cracking. And this was all she could say. Chelia had to reinforce it within the feeble minds of these guild-people. "Yeah. She's dead. We failed. That's...pretty much it. We...failed." "You actually let someone die?" Blake stared at Jason, her eyes seeming like ice. Whether she was bothered by the death of Gaikou, no one would know, she hadn't been a member long enough to consider anyone but Jason a partner in any sense. "And now look at you...you can't even look everyone in the eye." "Be quiet..." Jason's voice was barely more than a whisper. "Don't you tell me to-" "Be quiet!" Jason raised his voice, glaring at Blake and the woman actually backed off. "We tried. There was nothing we could have done!" "Let's just end it there, Blake..." Olivia said reprovingly. "That attitude isn't helping this matter right now..." "So...what are you all going to do?" Scylla asked, deciding to speak before Blake could retort. "A funeral..." Jason replied. "We're waiting on an associate of hers..." He jerked his head at Giselle. Giselle sighed as she scratched her head. "Give him a second. He'll be here in a jiffy." Using outdated slang...that really did match her timeframe. "Fweeeeeeeeeeek!" A squawking could be heard from outside the building, as Giselle snapped her fingers, teleporting the parrot into her arms. "...And this, is Fredson. You could say that he's not a real parrot. He was turned into one after he screwed up an experiment with Magitech and got combined with his own pet parrot. Now, as you were saying, you had everything prepared?" Fredson nodded. His eyes shone momentarily, as a casket and whatnot was transported into the vicinity- it was some sort of Requip Magic merged with Teleportation Magic. "I guess it's time..." Alaskiel sighed. Procession - Silent Cries The entire outside of the Akatuki Guild building had been made up for this. Multiple seats, enough to seat the entirety of the guild only, were laden out on both sides to serve as an aisle. Everyone was dressed in some form of black, and the air was thick with misery. In fact, even the sky was clouded, as if the world itself was trying to express it's condolences to the guild. The crushing of grass could be heard as Jason stepped forward, carrying Gaikou's casket himself. He slowly walked through the aisle, heading to the fore of the proceedings, and placed the casket in front of Fredson, before turning away to take his seat. Fredson's eyes dazzled momentarily- as he took upon his majestic true form; a middle-aged man with tousled grey hair and thin brown eyes, dressed in an unzipped black suit over a black buttoned vest, with a green undershirt underneath. He certainly looked mature- a far cry from the talking parrot. "I invite you now to listen as you all, through me, pays tribute to the life and honour the memory of Gaikou Ryuusei. She was a private person, so out of respect for that privacy; I'm not going to dwell on the history or background of her life, I would like, rather; to talk about her more recent past; and the kind of person she was, because that's something you will all be more familiar with." The Akatsuki Guild remained entirely silent during this, no one would dare interrupt. All of their thoughts had been given to this man, who would recite them along with his own words. No one had the motivation to speak, even Iris, in all her hyperactivity, was quiet now. Fredson's tone changed to something far more sentimental. "She was a bit rough around the edges, I guess. I had met her parents three decades ago- a nice couple, they were. They had perished thirty years ago in the fire that swept across Hargeon- they were hoping to send their daughter to my institute. Alas, all was not as wished. However, if they were here now...I can feel their anguish from beyond the grave. Perhaps, right now, they are in this room, watching over her. They'd wish for her to pass on, peacefully. Gaikou, your parents are waiting for you." Tears were streaming down several people's faces, but most notably Wendy. While Gaikou hadn't gotten along best with everyone at first, she had gotten along better with Wendy and Jason before the lot of them. When they weren't on missions, Wendy was one of the few Gaikou hadn't been cold too, and the girl had even gotten Gaikou to consider her something resembling a friend...and they'd miss any more opportunities in the past seven years. "Gaikou...." Alaskiel had no words to think, calmly listening to Fredson as he spoke. He had grieved already. His emotions had spilled out over Gaikou's corpse. Not only his, but the emotions of a man long gone. Alaskiel had nothing left to give, and simply sat there, as calm as he could manage. Fredson continued on, "Is there anyone who wishes to say anything upon her behalf?" Iris raised her hand up high, before walking up to the podium, beginning to clear her throat. "Ahem. I think, Gaikou Ryuusei and I had the closest bond here...at least as close as she'd allow it. I believe that I'm a person who brings the best out in others- and I like to think that that's very, very true." Gaikou's silvery soul had manifested away from the group, hovering overhead. She couldn't understand what was going on- "....Why is everyone so sad? I'm right here, can't you see me!?" As Iris continued to speak, Alaskiel winced. He could hear shouting. Frantic shrieking. And then he realised, it was Gaikou. Her soul, that now resided within his own mental plane, was shouting frantically to get everyone's attention, trying to say she wasn't dead. "Gaikou..." Alaskiel closed his eyes (moreso than they had been already), to focus. Within moments, he was transported into his own mindscape, that of a lush forest. "I'm here!" Alaskiel's attention was drawn by what sounded like a girl's voice, and it was breaking in desperation. I'm right here, can't you see me!? Why is there a casket!?" Alaskiel walked slowly in the direction of the voice, and he saw Gaikou, now in a more corporeal form, shouting desperately into a small, transparent space that showed the outside world, her own funeral. "...What's happening!?" She was visibly panicking- Gaikou Ryuusei's corperal form faded in and out as she continued to ask, "What's happening? Why is everyone sad? I...I don't understand." "...this must be a side effect of the magic..." Alaskiel thought quietly. "She doesn't remember she's dead..." Alaskiel steadied himself, walking over to Gaikou, and taking her hand. "Gaikou...you're dead. This is your funeral that you are looking at." Gaikou's eyes widened in shock- before she almost devolved into a panic attack. "...Wait, what? Are...you...serious? Did I...die?" "Yeah..." Alaskiel averted her eyes. "You were killed by Alexis, and died in my arms. I took your soul within my body, to allow you a chance to see Alexis fall before you pass on." "What!? I didn't even notice that I died..." She was in complete and utter disbelief; showing no signs of calming down yet. She began to hyperventilate- barely containing herself. Alaskiel placed his arms around Gaikou, pulling her into an embrace. "It's fine, it's fine! Gaikou, there's nothing I can do to make this better. I can't restore your soul to it's body, I can't stop this funeral. However, I can avenge you personally. I will see to it that you can pass on knowing Alexis is burning in Hell!" Gaikou nodded; although scared, she was willing to fight alongside Alaskiel to get her revenge. "She'll recieve the full brunt of our combined power, believe you me." Alaskiel smiled at Gaikou, before releasing her. "That's good. We'll work together with everyone else to bring her down. Now...I need to head back to the funeral. One more thing, I'm the only one who can see and hear you, but, you are able to speak with me, so don't start to think you're just trapped up in here. It's kinda like a temporary boarding situation and I'm your new landlord." Gaikou paused momntarily. "...I-I see..." Even though death was an absolutely terrifying thing, she steeled herself- trying to return to her usual composure. "...That, sounds beneficial." She was oddly quiet right now- perhaps now she had accepted her demise. "I'll see you soon then." Alaskiel faded from her sight as he returned to the physical plane, just in time to see Jason stepping up to the podium. Whatever Iris had been saying, he had missed it, but he had made it back to hear Jason speak, so he figured it would be interesting. "Comrades..." Jason began slowly. "No matter how distant to one you may be, they are something to be valued. Gaikou....I believe that, despite her aloof attitude, she did value us as comrades in the end. We met as enemies, seven years ago, when she infiltrated the Haven for the purpose of slaying Vivian. However, in the end, enemies can make the most loyal allies, and Gaikou proved herself to be this when she joined our Guild. And now..." He paused for a moment, his voice cracking. He looked at the faces of the entire Akatsuki Guild, and saw the sadness in their eyes. "I wish you all would blame me. However, you sit there, grieving our comrades death and laying blame on no one, even where it truly belongs. Gaikou. I cannot apologise enough for failing you. I should have been able to save you, and in that critical moment, I could do nothing. I know my apologies are meaningless now, when you are gone...but we will continue as a Guild, towards our goal, and now we look forward with an additional goal; avenging you. You will never leave our thoughts." With this final farewell to Gaikou, Jason stepped down from the platform wordlessly, before proceeding back to his seat, meeting the eyes of no one. Fredson flapped all the way back to the podium, ending the whole ceremony. "Is there anyone else?" Nobody had anything else to say about Gaikou- though it was clear that they would all cherish her memory and think well about her, even after her demise. "...That is all." Within the hands of everyone appeared a glass of some form of liquor. Jason spoke to everyone, loudly,and clearly. "Everyone. Raise your glasses." Everyone followed these instructions as asked. "To Gaikou. You will never leave our thoughts." He drunk from his glass and everyone followed suit. END